Sarah Todd: Ralph is our secret weapon as competition hots up at the show

Hopefully the chemist will be open until late. Might get some new bedding as well.

No, it's nothing to do with The Husband. This weekend is all about Ralph the cockerel making his show tent debut.

Disappointed that there wasn't a class to suit her pony at the local show, our daughter announced completely out of the blue that she was going to enter the poultry section. She's also taking some eggs. Nine to be precise; three brown, the same number white and a trio of "any other colour".

Her brother is – "for the last time because the girls always win" – taking part in the mounted fancy dress. When he moves on to more adventurous activities such as show jumping, we will give a trophy in his name to be awarded to the highest placed boy rider in the fancy dress. A fitting memento of the years being pipped at the post by some cute-looking girl or other.

Bonny pony is another class that is as rare as hen's teeth to see a boy win. Our lad has curly hair. Perhaps if we pulled it straight we could get some ribbons in?

Next year we'll maybe borrow my brother's daughter. No judge would be able to resist her ringlets. Regular readers may remember that she was born during Yorkshire Show week. It was the first time he'd ever missed a trip to Harrogate. It's hard to believe that this year's event marked her third birthday.

She spent the day with us while her parents enjoyed time at the show without a certain little person to worry about. We went the day before them, Tuesday, spending Monday night in the tent. There was a wonderful atmosphere. The only downside was that it made us feel ever so old. Those young farmers' parties seem such a long time ago.

As always, the children's collection of badges and balloons made me remember yesteryears at the shows. We used to also gather up paper caps, with slotted tops and the name of the tractor manufacturer or whatever on the peak. They don't seem to do them any more.

We did smile at the largest livestock lorry we've ever seen – used to transport tiny Dexter cattle.

Talking of lorries, our offspring had great fun looking at luxury ways of taking horses from A to B. Our trailer is ancient, with a pin that needs putting in if you want to go backwards, so the likelihood of upgrading on such a scale is (sorry to the salesmen) incredibly unlikely. A front unload would be luxury, never mind fitted kitchen and shower.

Good job all we need for Ralph is a cardboard box …

CW 17/7/10